Let’s call it Wednesday

The Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 123-107. You might’ve figured that’s how the game would go since the Rockets 24-9 while the Mavericks are 9-23, but the score of this game wasn’t the interesting part of it.

There where 8 technical fouls in the game; 5 on the Rockets and 3 on the Mavericks. The Mavericks where also called for 2 flagrant fouls. Trevor Ariza of the Rockets was one of the players who received 2 of those 8 technical fouls and was ejected from the game. After the game Ariza waited outside of the Mavericks locker room looking to confront Salah Mejri of the Mavericks. Reports are Mejri made a derogatory comment to Ariza about Ariza’s wife and children between the third and fourth quarters. Ariza became so upset that he exchanged words with Mejri, which prompted the referees to give Ariza a technical, his second of the game, leading to an ejection. Ariza was joined outside the Dallas locker room by teammates James Harden, Patrick Beverly and Eric Gordon. Dallas police officers where present outside the Dallas locker room as part of their regular detail monitored the situation to make sure it did not escalate. At one point Mavericks guard Deron Williams came out of the locker room to talk with Ariza and try to calm him down. Ariza, who didn’t speak with reporters after the game, eventually left without further incident. Mejri denied to reporters that he said anything to Ariza about his family. Beverly who didn’t play in the game because of a bruised quad had a one sided run in the with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. After Carlisle had wrapped up his post game press conference he passed Beverly who was sitting on a cart. Beverly began screaming comments to Carlisle. There was no respond from Carlisle; who just kept walking. Will have to wait and see how the NBA reacts to this incident. Will there be fines or suspensions involved with this situation.

Luckily for the Los Angeles Clippers and DeAndre Jordan fantasy owners that Jordan was okay after being involved in a car accident on Tuesday in Playa del Rey, California, while on his way to the airport in advance of the team’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Jordan flew with the team to New Orleans ahead of Wednesday night’s game. Chris Paul was seen at the accident site, but the Clippers said he was not involved. Rather, Paul was close by when the accident occurred and arrived with team staff to give Jordan a ride to the airport.

Week 16 was a tough week for a couple of young franchise quarterbacks. Both Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders and Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans both suffered broken legs in their teams games. No surprise that both are done for the season.

The Raiders are 12-3 and are headed to the playoffs without Carr. It will be Matt McGloin who will take over under center for the Carr. McGloin is in his 4th season and has played in 13 career games. McGloin did start 6 games as a rookie in 2013. McGloin has 11 career touchdown passes as well as 11 career interceptions. With Carr under center the Raiders where a Super Bowl contender. I’m not sure you can say the same thing with McGloin at quarterback. McGloin will make his first start of the season on New Year’s day as the Raiders wrap up the regular season on the road against the Denver Broncos. It should be a good test for McGloin against Denver’s defense.

Tennessee not only saw the starting quarterback go down. They also saw there playoffs chances disappear in their 38-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaquars. The Titans wrap up the regular season by hosting the AFC South leading Houston Texans. Matt Cassel will get the start at quarterback for Tennessee against Houston. Cassel is in his 12th NFL season, but his first with the Titans. Cassel has made 79 career starts. Cassel has thrown 102 career touchdowns to 79 career interceptions. A win against the Texans on Sunday and the Titans will finish over .500 for the first time since 2011.

Now I didn’t forget about the Sports Time Radio pick contest. Schaumburg Stu and I tied for the top spot for Week 16 by going 10-6. Mr. Fantasy took the 2nd spot with an 8-8 record while Dan the Man had a rough week going 6-10. For the season Schaumburg Stu looks to be headed to a victory as he is 158-82 overall. Mr. Fantasy has moved into 2nd place with a overall record of 148-92. Dan the Man has fallen into 3rd place, but he’s just a game behind Mr. Fantasy at 147-93. Sadly it looks as though I’ll be in the cellar this season as I am 142-98 overall. It looks like the battle here is for 2nd place and whoever has the best record in Week 17 should take it.

We have another head coaching vacancy in the NFL as the Buffalo Bills have fired Rex Ryan. Ryan was in his 2nd season as Bills head coach. In 2015 the Bills went 8-8 under Ryan. This season the Bills are currently 7-8 headed into the final week of the season. Ryan’s coaching career started off hot as he took the New York Jets to back to back AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010. Ryan hasn’t had a winning season since that 2010 season, but he has been .500 on three occasions. For his career Ryan is 61-66 overall, but does have a 4-2 playoff record. The Bills also relieved assistant head coach Rob Ryan of his duties. Offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will serve as interim coach for the Bills’ finale on Sunday against the New York Jets. The Bills have also announced that E.J. Manuel will start at quarterback instead of Tyrod Taylor who started the previous 15 games this season. You have to wonder if Ryan has seen his last coaching position. He might have to take a coordinators job and try to work his way back into a head coaching position if he’s looking to be a head coach again. Would you like to see your favorite team hire Ryan if they had a coaching vacancy?

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